Screw anchor driving device



July 10, 1956 R. MIDDLETON 2,753,743

SCREW ANCHOR DRIVING DEVICE Filed Jan. 27, 1955 INVENTOR ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent SCREW ANCHOR DRIVING DEVICE Arthur R. Middleton,Sebastian, Fla.

Application January 27, 1955, Serial No. 484,360

2 Claims. (Cl. 8153) The present invention relates in general toimplements for driving screw-type ground anchors for stays and the like,and more particularly to an assembly rendering screw anchors of the typehaving an eye at one end thereof capable of being driven by ratchet headwrenches.

Screw anchors have been employed for years for securing stay rods andcables for bracing telephone poles and the like. Such anchors have hadvarious shapes, but all have a rigid eyelet at the upper end throughwhich the cable or end of the stay rod is threaded. The lower endgenerally comprises an auger bit or screw flight of one or two turnssecured near the end central rod of the anchor. Such anchors are screwedinto the earth on a slant directed toward the pole or object to bebraced. Heretofore it has been the conventional practice to drive suchanchors manually with the aid of various implements to multiply thetorque applied to the screw anchor. This practice involves a diificultywhen the anchor is nearing its final position, in that the turning ofthe driving implement, which usually extends transversely to the axis ofthe anchor, is interfered with by the surface of the earth.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel wrenchassembly for driving standard screw anchors having an eye at one endthereof of the type for anchoring stays, guy wires and the like.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novelfitting to be applied to the ends of standard screw anchors of the typehaving eyes at one end thereof whereby the screw anchors can be readilydriven by means of a standard ratchet head wrench.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novelattachment for screw anchors for permitting the anchors to be driven byratchet head wrenches, which is characterized'by simplicity ofconstruction and applica tion to the screw anchor, ease and speed ofmanipulation, and eifectiveness in maintaining the screw anchor inalignment with the desired axis of penetration into the ground.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing illustrating one preferredembodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a screw anchor and driving implementassembled thereon embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a horizontal transverse section view taken through theanchor driving fitting along the lines 22 of Figure 1 to illustrate theconstruction of the anchor rod clamping mechanism; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section view taken alongthe lines 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designatecorresponding parts throughout the several figures, the anchor drivingimplement, which is generally indicated by the reference character 10,is illustrated in Figure 1 in operative position assembled with astandard screw anchor 11 of the type which is commer- 2,753,743 PatentedJuly 10, 1956 cially available to anchor stays, guy wires and the like,having a rod 12 with an anger bit formation 13 at the lower end thereofand a closed loop eye formation 14 at the upper end thereof.

The anchor driving unit 10 includes a tubular sleeve member 15 which isformed of a section of three-inch diameter pipe designed to be fittedover the end of the anchor 11 having the eye formation 14 thereon. Thetubular sleeve 15 is provided adjacent its upper end with a transversebolt 16 loosely received in complementary apertures provided in the wallof the tubular sleeve 15 in diametric alignment with the mediallongitudinal axis of the sleeve so that the shank of the bolt 16 may beselectively withdrawn from or projected through the bore of the sleeve.A nut 17 is removably threaded onto the end of the bolt 16 to lock thebolt in place. The bolt 16 is designed to be projected through the eye14 of the anchor when the eye is aligned with the bolt-receivingapertures in the tubular sleeve 15 so that the anchor may be rotated inaccordance with rotational torque applied to the tubular sleeve 15.

The opposite end of the tubular sleeve 15 is provided with an aligningclamp mechanism 18 which is of U shape and is provided with a transversemember 19 spot welded to the surface of the tubular sleeve 15 and a pairof arms 29 pivotally coupled by pivot pins 21 to the opposite ends ofthe transverse member 19. The arms 20 are arranged on opposite sides ofthe tubular sleeve 15' and are arranged to be seated into slots 22 cutinto opposite wall portions of the tubular sleeve 15. The arms 20 carryclamping jaws 23 projecting toward the medial axis of the tubular sleeve15 and having serrated concave faces 24 at their inner ends to engagethe shank portion 12 of the anchor 11. The clamping jaws 23 projectthrough the slots 22 formed in the side walls of the tubular sleeve 15.

The arms 20 are interconnected at their ends remote from the pivot pins21 by means of a link 25 pivotally connected at 26 to the end of one ofthe arms 20 and having a threaded end extending through a complementaryaperture in the end of the other arm 20. A wing nut 27 is threaded ontothe free end of the link 25 to permit the arms 26) and clamping jaws 23to be secured in clamping relation with the shank of the screw anchor11.

This unit is designed to be manually rotated to drive the screw anchor11 into the ground by means of a conventional ratchet head pipe wrench28 when the ratchet head 29 thereof is fitted about the tubular sleeve15 between the bolt 15 and aligning clamp 18.

In the use of the device, the tubular sleeve 15 is inserted over the eyeend of a screw anchor 11 with the wing nut 27 removed from the link 25and the clamping arms 20 and jaws 23 pivoted outwardly to dispose themexternally of the tubular sleeve 15, and the nut 17 and bolt 16 removedfrom the sleeve. When the eye 14 of the anchor 11 is disposed inalignment with the bolt-receiving apertures in the tubular sleeve 15,the bolt 16 is projected through the apertures and the eye 14 of thescrew anchor 11, and the nut 17 is threaded onto the bolt 16 tointerconnect the anchor 11 and the tubular sleeve 15. The arms 20 of thealigning clamp 13 carrying the clamping jaws 23 are then rotated towardthe center of the tubular sleeve 15 about their pivots 21 until theserrated concave faces 24 are brought into contact with the shank of theanchor 11. The free end of the pivoted link 25 is positioned during thisconvergent movement of the arms 2a to be received in the apertureprovided therefor in the arm 26 opposite that to which the link 25 ispivotally connected. The wing nut 27 is then threaded onto the link 25until the clamping jaws 23 securely clamp the shank of the screw anchor11 in alignment with the medial axis of the tubular sleeve 15. Theratchet head wrench 28 may then be manually rotated with the auger 3 bitE3 of the anchor 11 in contact with the ground and the axis of theanchor 11 held in alignment with the desired axis of insertion of thesame into the ground, and the torque applied to the tubular sleeve 15 bythe ratchet head wrench 28 will be transmitted to the screw anchor 1:1to drive the same tothe desired depth.

While only one preferred embodiment of the invention has beenparticularly shown and described, it is apparent that variousmodifications may be made in the invention without departing from thespirit and scope thereof, and it is desired, therefore, that only suchlimitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art andare set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An adapter for driving with a ratchet head wrench or the like a screwanchor of the type having a substantially straight rod provided with aneyelet at the upper end thereof, comprising a tubular sleeve ofsuflicient internal diameter to receive the eyelet therein adapted to bedisposed over the eyelet end of the anchor, a transverse bolt removablysupported on the sleeve adjacent one end thereof adapted to be projectedthrough the eyelet of the screw anchor to intercouple the anchor withthe sleeve, and aligning clamp means disposed adjacent the end of saidtubular sleeve remote from said transverse bolt, said clamp meansincluding a pair of clamping arms pivotally movable toward and away fromthe axis of said sleeve, and from each other and having contact membersthereon for engaging the rod portion of a screw anchor within saidsleeve, said sleeve having apertures for receiving said contact memberspermitting ingress and egress of said contact members relative to thebore of said sleeve and means for securing said clamping arms inclamping relation with the rod portion of said screw anchor to maintainthe same in axial alignment with said tubular sleeve, said sleeve beingadapted to be received in a ratchet head wrench or the like tofacilitate manual application of torque to said sleeve.

2. An accessory for driving a screw anchor of the type having asubstantially straight rod provided with an auger bit on the lower endthereof and an eyelet on the upper end thereof, comprising a tubularsleeve of sufficient internal diameter to receive the eyelet thereinadapted to be disposed over the eyelet end of the anchor with the upperend of the anchor in substantial alignment with the upper end of thesleeve, a transverse bolt removably supported in the sleeve across thebore thereof and adjacent the upper end of the sleeve adapted to beproject d through the eyelet of the screw anchor to intercouple theanchor with the sleeve, aligning clamp means disposed adjacent theopposite end of said tubular sleeve comprising a transverse membersupported on said sleeve, a pair of arms pivotally coupled to saidtransverse memher and having inwardly projecting clamping jaws adaptedto engage the rod portion of a screw anchor within said sleeve, saidsleeve having diametrically opposed apertures in the wall thereofpermitting ingress and egress of said jaws relative to the bore of saidsleeve, means intercoupling the ends of said pivoted arms remote fromsaid transverse member for securing said clamping jaws in holdingengagement with the rod portion of said screw anchor to maintain thesame in axial alignment with said tubular sleeve, and ratchet headwrench means surrounding and in gripping engagement with the externalsurface of said sleeve between said transverse bolt and said aligningclamp means for transmitting unidirectional torque to said sleeve toeffect driving rotation of a screw anchor held in said sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS816,631 Widmer Apr. 3, 1906 1,265,630 Donohue May 7, 1918 1,400,905Nordstrom Dec. 20, 1921 1,416,461 Hance May 16, 1922 1,803,089 Bash Apr.28, 1931 2,267,012 Bowne Dec, 23, 1941

